The Kings didn’t do any line rushes in Thursday’s morning skate, leaving open the question of who will be scratched from the lineup for tonight’s game against Carolina.

During Wednesday’s practice, the Kings had four skaters — Jeff Carter, Dwight King, Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli — rotating on the second line, which led to speculation that Pearson, the 22-year-old rookie who has struggled recently after a brilliant start, might be scratched.

The Kings held an optional morning skate, but Pearson came off the ice a few minutes before Andy Andreoff and Jordan Nolan. Typically, the last players off the ice are the ones scheduled to be scratched.

In any event, there’s unanimous agreement that Pearson’s level of play needs to rise.

Pearson scored seven goals in his first eight games, but has now gone 11 consecutive games without a goal and has been a non-factor in many of those games.

”I think I just kind of got away from my game,’’ Pearson said after today’s morning skate. ”My game is a lot about forechecking and winning battles. When I’m not winning those battles, I’m not really being productive. I have to get back to that.’’

Coach Darryl Sutter, who critiqued Pearson’s ”three-zone’’ game on Wednesday, went a little softer today.

”It’s just a hot topic because he was the (rookie) of the month and had a good start,’’ Sutter said. ”We’ll manage his minutes a little better, and hopefully he plays better. He’s 22 years old. He’s actually been a better player than some of our 32-year-olds.’’

Rich Hammond was a high school senior when the Rams left town in 1995, and now he's their beat writer for the Southern California News Group. A native of L.A., Rich broke in at the Daily Breeze as a college freshman and also has covered USC, the Kings, the Lakers and the Dodgers. He still loves sports and telling stories. Don't take the sarcastic tweets too seriously.